Once upon.... the VinMonopolet!
Have you ever thought about “Do I drink too much?” [Believe me, studying wine is not an easy task.]
But how do we measure alcoholism? True, economic crises, Europe dissolution, Steve Jobs death…We need a drink!
And what if we had three month of darkness a year with averages temperatures of minus 20°C? What if we were known by our neighbors to have the higher suicide rate? What if Vodka was an everyday drink as well as a national proud? BINGO: Scandinavia!
In a society mesmerized by health for everyone, the Norwegian government had to stop this tradition of boozing. And guess what? Instead of promoting water, they forbade alcohol! No way… The first time I’ve heard of State monopole for alcohol was in Canada, five or six years ago. Then, far from my frenchy point of view, I was nearly shocked that Canadian couldn’t buy what they wanted to entertain themselves.
When I heard of Vinmonopolet, the Norway monopole, I decided to have a look there, and try to understand this nonsense.
There, I was astonished by the choice variety of wines that came from everywhere, but most of all, I understood the role of this monopole.
As Norway isn’t a wine producing country, they have a neutral taste and point of view. Thus you can find a very wide selection of wines in these stores. You can find a wide selection of BIB’s too. Indeed, these formats are quite popular as there is no associate idea of bad quality.
After this quite good impression, I had to learn more from Vinmonopolet history. What was my first surprise when I heard the seller telling me that “its creation was virtually imposed on the Norwegian government by France in order to ensure stable distribution of wine to all parts of the country”!
[see below: French J.P Chenet bottles]
Indeed, this monopole was born on 1920, when France needed a wide distribution market to sell off the huge quantity of liquid produced during the WWI. But it was more to stop the Norwegian spirit consumption that, in 1840, reached up to around a bottle a week per capita capable of consumption.
Whatever the reasons, the vinmonopolet seems to work quite well today
Indeed, they managed to bring out a switch of consumption, bringing down the spirits to the benefit of wines that went up to 16L/capita/year. And this surge is only just beginning with 24% growth since 2009. This could be explained by all these services you can find in a store, from the very qualified seller to all the wine consumer guide available.
The monopole is finally all about teaching a better (and smoother) way of drinking.